A Farmer's Journey To Immortality - Chapter 718: Nuri
Chapter 718: Nuri
Aksai sat still for a long moment, feeling the changes within him.
His cultivation had advanced. His bloodline had completed its third refinement. And now, he carried a new blessing that brought him closer to his druidic nature.
“No wonder my Individuality was related to demon beasts. It seems this druidic power was already in the process of waking up. I only hastened the process by refining my bloodline.”
Aksai thought to himself and began looking at everything around him with newfound understanding. He then shifted his gaze.
The first thing he saw was the Array Eye in front of him.
The moon essence stones that once glowed with soft silver light were now nothing more than dull gray ash. A light breeze passed through the cave and scattered some of the fine powder across the ground.
“Even after basically bullying the Silver Moon Palace for so many years, I still ran out of those damn stones. Haah! Unfortunately, I can’t use such precious resources anymore because I know there aren’t any left in that sect’s treasury at the moment. I’ve wrung them dry. Any more, and they might start complaining to the Big Five Sects.”
The Spirit farmer let out a quiet breath.
Aksai shifted his gaze to the elemental pools around him. The pool of water was shallow and still, its Spirit aura almost gone. The wood pool looked dry, its life essence thin and weak. The earth pool had lost its heaviness, and even the fire pool flickered like a dying ember.
They had all been drained.
The array formation remained intact, but it felt empty. It had done its job too well.
Aksai stood up slowly and stretched his body. His muscles felt light yet firm. His Spirit Sense spread out, touching every corner of the cave. His power was stable, solid, and far stronger than before.
He knew this kind of progress was not normal.
Locking himself away on Emerald Cove, cutting off distractions, and focusing only on cultivation for most of the last twenty-two years had been the right choice. The resources he had gathered, the formations he had built, and the calm of his island had pushed him forward at an unbelievable speed.
But now, something was missing.
Aksai closed his eyes again and tried to guide his Spirit energy forward.
It did not move the way he wanted it to anymore. There was no resistance, no backlash. Just… nothing. It felt like standing in front of a wall with no cracks. No matter how much power he pushed, there was nowhere to go.
Aksai frowned slightly. He understood what this meant.
Resources alone were no longer enough. Time and hard work would not break this barrier. If he wanted to move further, he needed something else.
Inspiration. Understanding.
Aksai looked up at the hole in the cave’s ceiling. Moonlight and starlight shone down quietly, just like before. Everything looked the same, yet he felt different.
He smiled without humor.
“It seems even a well fed turtle has to stretch his neck out of his shell every once in a while,” he murmured to himself.
For the first time in a long while, Aksai felt the need to step out of his island and face the wider world again.
Then he thought of something and asked aloud, “Nuri, how long will it take for me to reach Core Formation Perfection at my current pace?”
Nuri was the name Aksai had given to the Neural Link Fabric. It wasn’t his idea. It was the Neural Link Fabric itself that had asked its master to name her.
After all, its capabilities were evolving alongside Aksai’s powers. It had already begun to develop an ego.
There was no pause. Nuri replied promptly.
[Master, based on your current progress so far as well as the data I have, it will take you approximately 700 years to achieve Core Formation Perfection. Depending on the epiphany you have, it would take 50 to 200 years more to trigger the Nascent Soul realm breakthrough event.]
Aksai’s brows twitched slightly.
“Seven hundred years…” he muttered under his breath.
He stared at the faint glow of the formation lines carved into the ground. Even with all his advantages, the number still felt heavy.
“List the Spirit resources I would need to speed this up,” Aksai said. “Focus on anything that can be fed directly into my Tantra formation.”
The Neural Link Fabric responded at once.
[Understood, Master. Initiating resource analysis.]
Lines of light flickered faintly in Aksai’s vision as data flowed.
[Recommended Spirit resources for enhanced Tantra efficiency include high-purity Sun Essence Crystals, refined Moon Marrow Stones, Star Dew Condensate, Elemental Heart Cores, and balanced Yin-Yang Spirit liquids.]
The list continued, steady and clear.
[Cross-referencing with existing assets.]
Aksai listened closely.
[Third Order Spirit resources currently being cultivated inside the Enchanted Everwood Farm include: Verdant Spirit Vines, Moonleaf Dew Grass, Star Pollen Moss, Earth Pulse Roots, and Azure Wind Fruits.]
That much, he already knew. Still, hearing it laid out helped him think.
The Neural Link Fabric did not stop.
[Additional cross-reference completed.]
[Iron Mountain Sect possesses: Firecore Ore Essence, Earth-Grade Spirit Marrow, and tempered Metal Spirit Sand.]
[Silver Moon Palace possesses: Pure Moon Essence Pools, Lunar Spirit Pearls, Night Frost Jade, and refined Star Reflection Stones.]
Using various sentient fiends as data-gathering nodes and field agents, Aksai’s Neural Link Fabric had begun handling many of his external affairs. It had become an intermediary between him and the outside world so that he could focus on cultivation.
Many times, Aksai didn’t even need to give instructions personally. Much of his authority had already been automated. At this point, the Neural Link Fabric held more accurate data about the two sects Aksai directly and indirectly controlled than even their own elders.
Aksai could always check the logs that Nuri diligently kept whenever he wanted to see the list of decisions she took in his stead. He seldom had to change Nuri’s orders a bit to suit his needs. And every time he did something like that, Nuri would take note of all the factors that influenced Aksai’s decision.
“So they really are sitting on good stuff,” he said softly.
After a short pause, he spoke again. “Recalculate my cultivation time. Assume I feed the Tantra formation with the suggested Spirit resources whenever possible.”
The Neural Link Fabric went silent.
Inside its sandboxing environment, countless simulations began to run. Different paths branched and collapsed. Gains were measured, losses removed, and limits adjusted.
A few moments later, the answer came.
[Simulation complete.]
[Master, it would take approximately 500 years for you to reach Core Formation Perfection if you were to improve the effects of your Spirit cultivation technique.]
Aksai closed his eyes.
“Five hundred years…” he murmured.
A dry chuckle escaped his lips.
“No wonder there are no Nascent Soul Kings in the Dadangar Subcontinent,” he said quietly. “Even if I do everything right, even if I squeeze every bit of value out of Spirit resources, it would still take me five hundred years?”
He shook his head.
“An average Core Formation Lord only has about five hundred years of lifespan,” he continued. “For late-stage Lords who are already more than halfway through that span, it’s basically impossible. Even if they somehow touch the threshold, they’re bound to fail.”
His gaze drifted toward the cave ceiling, where faint moonlight filtered in.
“And no wonder the existing Lords are so desperate,” he said. “Running to isolated realms, risking their lives, fighting each other over Spirit resources. It’s not greed. It’s fear. If known resources can cut down the required cultivation period by two hundred years, then an unknown but potent resource might do even more.”
He let out a long sigh.
“It’s a race against time.”
Aksai lowered his head and looked at his own hands.
“If I weren’t a druid,” he thought, “if I didn’t have a longer lifespan than most even in my current state, I’d be under crushing pressure right now. Hahaha. This kind of big data prediction might have sent me into depression.”
But his eyes soon sharpened.
“Still,” he muttered, “just because I have more time doesn’t mean I should waste it. Waiting seven hundred years like this is not an option.”
His fingers slowly clenched.
“I’ll have to do something. For now, I should aim to reach Core Formation Perfection within the next three hundred years. Not too fast, not too slow. I won’t take unnecessary risks, but I also won’t let my potential go to waste. There needs to be a fine balance.”
Plans began to form in his mind. Ones that ordinary Lords wouldn’t dare to take.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
